Kevin to the rescue

We had such a busy weekend, its Tuesday night and I still feel like I'm recovering!

Our sis-in-law turned 30 on Friday and so we made a quick trip to Austin to surprise her on Saturday.  The surprise party was successful even if we were a little late -- our arrival was still a surprise.  Why were we late?  too much construction in Houston.   It was a small party and whether or not it was a surprise had been off and on since we weren't sure if she'd have to work that morning or not - keeping a party a secret and making sure the guest of honor is there is tough!

We enjoyed the day, visiting and went out to eat.    The birthday girl got a karaoke machine as a gift and we ALL made great use of it all evening!!!   The music selections were pretty wide ranging - country to rap to Spanish love songs, it was quite a night.    Youtube has a ton of karaoke songs available!

Sunday was going to be pretty laid back.  We decided to stop off at a Renaissance festival on the way out of town to enjoy the outdoors (the weather was beautiful).  We'd only ever been to the huge one near Houston, this one is much smaller but very similar and larger than I was expecting (its only 4 years old!), much less crowded which I loved.  It had a great falconry show - I'm in love with a little owl named Widget (picture Harry Potter's owl).   During the show, I got a phone call -- my sister's boyfriend had car trouble and they were stuck in Austin.  She had to be at work the next day so we headed back to Austin to rescue her, thankfully her boyfriend's schedule was flexible and he could stay in Austin to wait on his car.   Very happy that we could help her out, it was actually K's second rescue of the day - he'd used his jumper cables to help a guy at the gas station that morning.   We got home after the Oscars were already on, I barely watched any of them, just sort of zoned out and then we went to bed. 

From this trip and the one over the summer we've realized that Austin really needs to be a 2 night trip....hopefully we'll remember that next time.


I kept our hotel keys the kind that look like a credit card when we checked out.   I was telling K why, and he said I should start a blog to give travel tips - he's joking of course, but I'll try to tag posts with travel tips.

Why should you keep the keys?   Your credit card is attached to them and if the hotel re uses them its possible your credit card could get charged for someone else's stay.  Someone told me this just recently, I'm not sure if its true but better safe than sorry.  So keep the keys and cut them up yourself...

Conference success

The conference went really well!    It was a busy few days in Galveston and a busy few weeks leading up to it.   We had about 200 people attend and many of them told us they had a great time.  It wasn’t all work; we had some fun and took advantage of being there over Mardi Gras.  Our special event for the conference was attending the parade and a great seafood meal at fisherman’s wharf.  We had a great time watching the parade and caught a ton of beads!    They even got a special hat for me as the organization president.

I know I talk about how much work putting on the conference is, what i haven't talked about is how rewarding it can be.   I have gotten to know a group of individuals in my line of work and I get to give back to the organization that has taught me so much.   I’ve been attending since 2004 and in 2009 I decided I wanted to get involved and took a minor role in conference planning.  That 'behind the scenes' look gave me a new appreciation for the work that went into the conferences I’d attended and gotten so much out of. I helped again the next year and was surprised to be nominated as Vice President/President elect.  I was elected and the rest, is history..

I was very glad I was able to spend Valentine’s day at home with Kevin, and he surprised me when I got home from the conference with a card and chocolates. He really knows me and got a box that was ALL caramel-filled chocolates, no icky nougat or coconut!   We had a great valentine’s day, and a wonderful weekend – spent much of it outside!

Smokey and TAIR'in it up

Our groggy dog is getting back to normal.   He had his procedure to remove the lump on Wednesday, turns out the vet found another one right behind his front leg and removed it as well since S was already sedated.  That night he barely moved and would cry when he stood by his bowl, poor thing had pain pills.....He's on 'restricted movement' for a few more days and will have to go back to get some staples removed, other than that he's pretty much back to normal.    The vet thinks he may have the beginnings of arthritis and that is why he wakes me up in the middle of the night - he can't sleep....poor guy, its hell getting old.    S also recently got a 'cave bed' , the jury is still out on whether or not he likes it...

Today I leave for my conference and I must admit I am so glad that the planning is pretty much OVER!  We'll have last minute problems and decisions, but most of the work must be done at this point.    We have over 200 people attending and I'm ready for it!  I'm also ready to end my term as President!  Kevin is so sweet to let me abandon him for a few days.   

Update -our Superbowl party was fun!   The kids especially enjoyed the Mardi Gras beads and the gumbo and grilled chicken made by our friend Robert was delicious.     The lights stayed on at our house, and I thought the jokes about the blackout in the stadium were funnier than the commercials....thanks also to Gourmet and Gamer (Laura and Chris) for attending!

Superbowl Sunday

February already?!?

Yesterday was Groundhog day and we've been joking that any Houston groundhogs are running around outside, it is full on spring here!   I did read that the real groundhog didn't see its shadow so I guess everyone gets an early spring.   I am not complaining, I went for a lovely bike ride this morning and am sitting outside right now soaking in the weather.

We celebrated Kevin's brother's birthday yesterday - he's a groundhog day baby.   It worked out really well for him to have his kids on his birthday and we just went to the in-laws for grilled burgers (hotdogs for the kids) and a frozen dessert -- yes, FROZEN dessert in February.

The Superbowl is today and we've been iffy on plans - it was just going to be the 2 of us watching it at the house.  Then on Friday and Saturday we had some last minute interest from others in coming over to watch the game, so we're having a small party.  The theme just sort of worked itself out -- we love making gumbo, and the game is in New Orleans....so MARDI GRAS theme!  We found some beads around the house and got some that had been dress up for my niece  but that she doesn't use anymore, and I had an excuse to buy a king cake at the store, and we are set!    I'm hoping for a good game and better commercials than we've had in recent years, and know it'll be a fun time!  I'd better get off the computer and work on the rest of our munchies - shrimp stock is cooking now and no superbowl party is complete without guacamole!